ORLANDO- The UCF volleyball team was defeated on Friday night in three sets (25-19, 25-20, 25-17) by No. 12 BYU in The Venue.
BYU (22-5, 11-4) won the statistical matchup against UCF (17-9, 8-7) with 43 kills, eight blocks and a .400 hitting percentage, while the Black and Gold had 30 kills, six service aces and a .144 hitting percentage. Abby Hansen and Lauren Clark each had a team-leading seven kills on the night.
“Although the scores were comparable to last night, it felt like a different environment in terms of the fight,” said head coach Jenny Maurer. “We didn’t execute and deliver where we needed to. Our mentality had good intentions but you can see the difference between players who are able to execute and that wasn’t us tonight.”
The Cougars and the Knights were neck-and-neck to begin the first set of the match, with the Black and Gold being tied with the visiting BYU or within one. The Cougars began to pull away from UCF after a 5-2 run with two kills to put them up four, 16-12. Back-to-back kills from Hansen and Avah Armour along with a 4-1 run brought the Knights back within one, 17-16. BYU answered back and went on to win the set with three consecutive kills, 25-19.
UCF got off to a quick 5-2 start in the second set with another two kills by Hansen and Armour, along with a service ace by Emily Wilson. After the Cougars tied it up 5-5, the Knights responded by putting up three straight points, 8-5 and to force a BYU timeout. The Cougars came back to tie the match again, 10-10 and then went on a 6-3 run to take the lead, 16-13. The Cougars continued to hold onto the lead and took the second set, 25-21.
BYU and the Black and Gold started set three with another back-and-forth affair. The Cougars then went on to spark an 8-2 rally and lead 20-12. BYU continued to overpower the Knights through the set and ended the set on a kill, 25-17.
UCF will be back in action for its last home game of the season on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 2 p.m. against the Texas Longhorns.